She’s described as a tornado, Energizer bunny, dynamo, old soul and activist. She shares herself without pretense or boundaries, a perfect match for the youths and topics she teaches through the Milwaukee social services agency, IndependenceFirst.

More than a decade ago, after she graduated from the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee with a degree in English, Kriofske found herself substitute teaching in a classroom full of children with disabilities. The children gravitated to her. She fell in love with them.

She made helping them have meaningful lives and relationships her life’s work.

“They’re just so unguarded,” Kriofske said. “There’s no sizing up and figuring out what other people want from you. There’s just this rawness and honesty and the willingness to be real.”

Fearless, and motivated by the lessons learned from her social activist parents, Kriofske first worked with adults with developmental disabilities at Ranch Community Services, then she created her own job at IndependenceFirst.

In 2005, she launched two youth leadership summits, week-long programs that prepare high school students for college, work, self-advocacy and self-acceptance. From those summits, she generated ongoing workshops on relationships and sex education, and coordinates a mentoring day that pairs children with people in various jobs.

She reaches 300 to 400 children a year, and tackles topics of sexuality and intimacy often ignored by parents and those teaching children with physical and mental challenges.

“I think she has made a dramatic difference in how we serve youths,” said Deb Langham, the Independent Living Services Program director at IndependenceFirst. “She has single-handedly made herself the leader of youth services in our agency and in the surrounding counties.”

The key to her success, according to Langham: “Some people think out of the box. Alie doesn’t know there is a box.”

In her workspace, Kriofske displays photos taken at the youth summits. There are children in wheelchairs, children with feeding tubes, children who don’t look “normal.”

She sees them as she sees herself: pure, social creatures, who need love and affection and acceptance; people she can empower to “be a full part of our society.”